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7 Gorgeous Brand-New Summer Cookbooks You Need to Own Now

by Alessandra Bulow

on 07/24/14 at 03:00 PM

Flipping through cookbooks always inspires me to play with ingredients and try exciting and different cooking techniques at home. Fortunately, there are many great new cookbooks right now, from a fantastic food-preserving bible to a stunning book devoted to meringues. Here are seven gorgeous cookbooks to check out this summer and use throughout the year.

Why you need this book: You'll learn how to make a rainbow of ethereal desserts with colorful meringues that are mallowy in the middle and have a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Also, meringues are naturally gluten-free.

Smart tips: "You'll know that your egg whites are stiff enough when you can hold the bowl upside down without them dropping out. Vinegar lends a chewiness to meringues. Add 1/2 teaspoon to your stiff egg whites for a really mallowy middle."

Why you need this book: With so manyfruits, vegetables, and herbs at their peak right now, it's the perfect time to start preserving summer's bounty. This comprehensive book covers every preserving method in depth and includes ideas for how to use the recipes. The preserving fever even extends to smoking seafood and curing bacon.

Why you need this book: Quick-pickling recipes with easy-to-find ingredients make this a great book for a first-time pickler. If you're a pickling aficianado, the book offers a deep dive into pan-Asian pickling techniques.

Smart tip: "If you don't own a kitchen scale, run out and buy one right now to measure the weight of the vegetables and fruits you're going to pickle. These days, a good one that's small enough to fit in a kitchen drawer is about $30."

Smart tips: "Freezing fresh ginger is effortless and prevents the sadness of discovering that lonely, dried-out lump at the bottom of the vegetable bin when you need fresh ginger the most. Also, semi-frozen ginger grates up beautifully into fluffy ginger snow, perfect for whisking into dressings and marinades."

Why you need this book: Mario Batali, Daniel Boulud, and Eric Ripert are just a few of the amazing chefs who contributed healthy recipes highlighting the produce they love from New York City's Greenmarket in Union Square.

Smart tips: "Interesting eggs are always abundant in asparagus season, so consider pairing asparagus with duck eggs instead of chicken eggs." "Don't toss out the cooking water after boiling stinging nettles--many people seek out nettles precisely to make tea, for both its woodsy flavor and healthful properties."

Why you need this book: Find out how Brits barbecue with this book from London's Pitt Cue -- a restaurant that has almost singlehandedly pushed British BBQ culture into the limelight with its hearty dishes.

Smart tip: "The benefits of using baked potatoes to make mashed potatoes is twofold: firstly, the potatoes dry out better, making for a smoother result with a smoky baked note. Secondly, you will have lots of empty potato skins to fill with whatever delights you desire. Long live baked mashed potatoes."